IBJ Media President Chris Katterjohn announced Friday morning that he will leave the company at the end of February.

Katterjohn, 59, has spent 30 years with the company, including 20 as publisher of Indianapolis Business Journal, and was the first employee hired by Jim and Nancy Cotterill, former publishers who helped found the publication in 1980.

IBJ Media’s holdings include the flagship IBJ and the Web site ibj.com, as well as the Indiana Lawyer and Court & Commercial Record. The company also has a custom publishing division.

Katterjohn said he has no specific plans but intends to take some time off before considering his options.

“I just felt that it was time for me to move on,” he said. “It’s been a great 30 years, and it’s been great to see what the IBJ has become.”

IBJ Media co-owner Michael Maurer purchased the company in 1991, shortly after Katterjohn had been named publisher.

“He will certainly be missed,” Maurer said. “He is the eyes and ears of the IBJ, so we have a lot of work to do to replace Chris.”

Maurer has appointed Greg Morris, vice president of operations at IBJ Media, as interim publisher. Maurer said he has no timetable for naming a permanent replacement.

Morris, 54, started at the company in 1991 as director of advertising. He held the same title at the former MyStar Communications, a company Maurer sold in 2004. It operated radio stations WZPL-FM 99.5; WNTR-FM 107.9, formerly known as WTPI; and WXNT-AM 1430.

Morris said he will miss working with his friend, whom he’s spent the past 19 years with at IBJ Media.

Morris said he’ll meet with Katterjohn before he departs to get up to speed on company operations, with a goal of continuing to move the company forward.